A solemn final Mass

VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI presided over Ash Wednesday services – his final public Mass – thanking the faithful at St. Peter's Basilica for their support during his nearly eight-year pontificate.

The basilica was packed as the pope, dressed in the traditional purple Lenten robes, celebrated a solemn Mass attended by a number of the cardinals who will be choosing his successor in just over a month.

Among them was Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, who at the end of the service addressed the pope's unexpected decision to step down on Feb. 28. “We wouldn't be sincere, Your Holiness, if we didn't tell you that this evening there is a veil of sadness in our hearts,” Bertone said, his voice breaking.

He praised the pope's “strong faith” and “great courage” that led him to make a decision that was guided by Benedict's “deep love” for God and the church.

The congregants burst into a standing ovation that lasted for minutes and continued as Benedict left the basilica, standing on a wheeled platform, smiling and waving at the people lining the nave of the cavernous church. Some wiped away tears.

In his homily, Benedict called for the end of rivalries in the church. Christians are called to bear witness to faith, to reveal the “face of the church,” which is at times “disfigured.” he said.

“I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the church, of the divisions in the body of the church,” he said. “Overcoming individualism and rivalry is a humble and precious sign for those who have distanced themselves from the faith or who are indifferent.”

Earlier, an enthusiastic crowd greeted Benedict at his weekly audience at the Vatican.

It was his first appearance since the announcement of his resignation two days before, and one of the dwindling opportunities for his followers to see and hear him before he withdraws into a sheltered life in a convent within the Vatican, where an apartment is being prepared for him.